Finding Home
by Gregg Landsman
Summary: Heero finds his past.  Short, so tell me if I should expand on it.


Gundam Wing and all associated characters are the property of someone else, not mine. Don't know who, exactly, but it's probably Sunrise among other people.

This is an odd one. Enjoy.

****

Finding Home

He sits, silently, in the cockpit of the machine, in a perfectly fitting tuxedo, fingers flicking the switches as lights turn on in the consoles around him, the viewscreen in front of him flickering before revealing the view of the darkened warehouse.

He knows the system is online. He's never turned it off, and it always starts whenever he activates his Gundam.

Unlike the others, he's never destroyed his. So, in the hangar below the castle of the Sank Kingdom, Wing Zero still sits.

A name.

Wing Zero isn't it's name.

It's name is XXXG-00W0. It was simply called The Gundam by the doctors when they drew up the prototype schematics when they were fired by their rage, over the death of their leader, the original Heero Yuy.

Quatre, during the insanity that gripped him after his father's murder, dubbed it Wing Zero due to its similarities to his original Gundam, Wing.

In truth, it's the father of all the Gundams, when you look at it. It has the features of them all, the combined genius of the five doctors.

And it's the place where he finds comfort. Where he finds answers.

"Zero," he says, "Tell me what to do."

The walls of the cockpit glow slow gold as the light washes over him.

The link between himself and the computer is established, the information forcing itself into his mind.

"I understand," he says as the glow ceases, "Thank you."

He rises from his seat, the cockpit door opening and the bridge of the hatch stretching out to the mounted ladder.

Heero sighs, looking out at the empty warehouse.

Empty. Like him. But now he knows how to fix that emptiness.

Zero's shown him the way…

And he smiles, faintly.

He has work to do.

Twelve hours ago, Quatre Raberba Winner married Dorothy Catalonia in a ceremony at the Peacecraft mansion. It was a beautiful ceremony, of course.

Heero was part of the groom's entourage, Trowa Barton was the best man, and Heero stood with Duo Maxwell and Wufei Chang as Quatre said his marriage vows.

Names.

Only two of them go by their real names.

Quatre never took a false name, showing pride that he was doing his work as a Gundam pilot and as his father's son. Wufei had both pride and shame in taking his dead wife's role as a pilot.

But the rest of them hide. Duo took his name as a tribute to the two people who protected him, Solo and Father Maxwell. Trowa took his so he could stop Operation Meteor from dropping colonies onto Earth when he helped murder Dekim Barton's son.

And Heero was given his as a sense of irony. A warbringer with the name of a pacifist.

He muses over this as he searches the computer database, reconstructing an image based on his mental image.

It has been…years…since he's seen that face.

He last saw that face when he was ten. Now he's nineteen years old, three years older than his last battle against the armies of Barton. But that's over. War is over, done with and now a quickly fading memory.

He rubs the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes as the computer searches the databases of Earth and the Colonies for the image.

_How long has it been since I even called myself that name? How long since anyone even acknowledge that name to begin with?_

"Odin…", he mutters, smiling faintly.

He's snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of the computer beeping. He opens his eyes, sitting forward as the information reveals itself at a painfully slow rate…

And he smiles.

He stands, shutting off the computer as the door knocks. Already he knows who it is. Since he's taken to staying at the mansion for the past week, she'd come by and try to talk with him for a little while every night, before she went to bed.

Usually he'd try to ignore her…but this news is actually making him feel…good.

He opens the door, seeing the amber-haired woman waiting there, tightening her nightrobe and smiling to him.

"I see you're not changed for bed, yet," she says, noticing he's still in his tuxedo, _sans_ jacket.

"I know," he says, "Hello, Relena."

She smiles, blushing. He usually rarely acknowledges she's there, much less greets her.

"I'm going to be leaving in about half an hour," he says, walking to his notebook computer and closing it.

"Leaving?", she asks, walking through the door, "Leaving for where?"

"Colony L4," he responds, "I have something to find."

"Oh…how long will you be gone?", she asks, "Is it serious?"

"I…don't know," he says, "I'm taking Wing Zero with me. It's faster than a shuttle so I should be at L4 before tomorrow."

She nods, sighing.

"Could you tell me what you're looking for, Heero?", she asks.

"I…don't know, myself," he says with uncharacteristic hesitation, "Maybe a piece of my childhood."

She looks at him curiously, cocking her head as he sighs…and reaches out.

He touches some of her hair as she snaps into a daze, his other hand wrapping around the belt of her nightrobe.

He pulls her forward, wrapping his arms around her waist…

And to her astonishment, he kisses her.

Her eyes go wide, her body tensing…

And she relaxes, returning the kiss, running her hands through his unkempt brown hair, closing her eyes as she takes in the experience.

They stand there, together, her silk robe ruffling under his hands, her lips warm against his. Their eyes meet as they end the kiss, Relena smiling faintly.

"Heero…"

"Odin," he interrupts.

"Huh?"

"Odin. My real name…is Odin Lowe jr.," he says, "I wanted you to know that. I have to get going."

He pulls his hands from her, taking the small bag from underneath his bed.

"I'll be back as soon as I can.", he says, and walks out.

And she sits, smiling dreamily, on the bed.

They're all hiding behind names, for the most part. Sometimes they use it to their advantages, sometimes they have no other choice. Sometimes they live with it.

Duo can't remember his real name. He calls himself that because he thinks it fits.

Trowa revealed to the others that his real name is Triton Bloom, and that Catherine really is his long-lost older sister.

Relena herself has two names, as both the daughter of Darlian and as Princess Relena Peacecraft. Although Zechs seems better suited to the role of a king. He has often said that he has too much blood on his hands, but the fires that he's been through has tempered his spirit.

It took twelve hours for him to arrive at L4.

He docked on the side of the colony and had Zero form a hatch to drill into the Colony's side.

He climbs out of the hatch into a sparsely inhabited part, having slept and changed to a buttoned shirt and slacks on the way. While the cockpit is relatively snug, he has learned to cope in his time.

No one pays him any real heed as he walks along the streets of L4, going over the information over and over and over again.

_Why am I here? I've never been to L4 before…_

He stumbles a bit in his step, calming himself.

He finds himself in an open-air shopping center, finding himself walking to a book sellers…

And he smiles.

She's there.

She's still beautiful despite being over forty years old, some gray in her dark brown hair. She has his eyes, he can see. She has the gentleness that he once had.

He remembers reading about her.

She remarried five years ago, to a wonderful man who lives on the Colony, and despite her age had a daughter a year and a half ago. She helps to run a book store with a neighbor while her husband is one of the colony leaders after the death of Mr. Winner, one of the few people who did not go against him and who extended his simpathies to Quatre.

It was Quatre who first brought him the information about this woman.

He met her when he met with the delegate recently, and brought the information to Heero to investigate.

And he found out everything.

About her new marriage, about her new husband, about her new daughter and how she recovered from everything. She never knew he was still alive or what happened to him, only knowing that nine years ago he was ripped from her and given to Doctor J. as his Perfect Soldier.

He shakily walks forward as she talks with a customer, smiling and talking.

He remembers that smile, remember that beauty about her.

_Decide. Do this now or never do this. You went through this effort for a reason._

A tear run down the side of his cheek. The first tear in nine years.

_Mission accepted._

He walks close to the book sellers as the customer pays her, another walking over as she picks up a book to recommend.

He clears his throat, getting her attention. She turns, smiling…

And her smile fades. The book falls to the ground as the customer looks on, confused…and she walks from the book sellers, her mouth open in shock.

"Oh…my God," she whispers, "Odin?"

He smiles, shakily.

"Odin…Odin, is that you?", she asks.

He nods, smiling, walking to her.

She runs to him, wrapping her arms around him as she crushes him against her, sobs wracking her body as tears stain his shoulders.

"Odin," she says, "Oh God, Odin, it's you…"

He smiles. A warm, genuine smile, as he closes his eyes, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

"It is," he says, "It is. There's no need to cry, I'm back…"

He smiles, widely.

"I'm back…Mom."

Well? Criticism? Suggestions? Should I write a sequel?


End file.
